ABSTRACT
This chapter describes Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000) and the multi-stakeholder partnership by which it was developed. It analyses the role that voluntary standards can play in enhancing human rights in the workplace, in particular in the supply chains of multinational enterprises. Social Accountability International (SAI) is human rights non-governmental organisations dedicated to improving workplaces and communities around the world by developing and implementing voluntary standards on social responsibility. SAI convenes key stake-holders to develop consensus-based standards, accredits qualified independent organisations to verify compliance, and promotes understanding and implementation of such standards worldwide. The experience with the development and application of SA 8000 provides many important lessons both for voluntary corporate responsibility standards generally, and for addressing human rights and labour issues in supply chains. While SA 8000 is one of the most widely used and highly regarded labour standards, it has also been criticised.
